In radiation therapy, there is a need for tools for that can automatically generate treatment plans with optimum radiation field positions (e.g., angles from which to provide radiation). Currently, the best possible treatment plan for a patient is generated by manually trying different field position setups and performing full dose optimization for each attempted field setup. This is very time-consuming, and the success of the process depends on the operator's capabilities.
Further, automatic processes for generating field setups often produce geometrically different field setups, even when two patient cases are similar. Such variation can reduce an operator's familiarity with optimized treatment plans and can reduce confidence that a treatment plan is safe and viable.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide techniques for addressing these problems.